Nutritional Facts

Directions

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Combine flour and salt; stir into chocolate mixture until combined. Stir in pecans.

Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For frosting, in a small heavy saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla until blended.

Frost brownies; score into 24 bars. Using a small star-shaped cookie cutter, lightly press a star outline in the center of each brownie. Outline stars with red, white and blue icing.Yield: 2 dozen.

"Absolutely the best brownies! Taste so rich and fudgy. I used walnuts because that's what I had on hand and like another reviewer suggested used 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa in the frosting instead of 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate. Very easy to make, too. I will definitely use this recipe from now on whenever I plan on making brownies!"

"I must have done something wrong. After baking, the toothpick was completely clean. I left them to cool for 40 minutes. Maybe it wasn't long enough. The top was still warm to the touch. I made the frosting and put it on sort of warm too. Recipe did not say I needed to let that cool. I was in a hurry to get to a party. So I poured it on and spread it. These turned out REALLY gooey. Which no one complained about and I only came back with two left after a party that also had cupcakes and cheesecake. These were eaten the most. There was one teenage boy who kept going back for more. Some people kept saying they liked underdone brownies. But they were done when I took them out of the oven. My feeling is I should have let them cool longer and cool the frosting. I think the frosting soaked into the warm brownie."